Jewish Youths Admit Attacking Palestinian

Israeli police on Saturday arrested three Jewish teenagers suspected of attacking a Palestinian in a Jewish neighborhood in the Holy City, a police spokeswoman said.

"Three Jewish teenagers suspected of having attacked a Palestinian were arrested," said Luba Samri.

"They have admitted carrying out the attack and say they did it because they thought he was trying to take advantage of a young Jewish girl," she said.

The victim, Ibrahim Abu Taa, a 28-year-old hotel employee, told Agence France Presse he was attacked and beaten on Wednesday night by a group of young Israelis while escorting a colleague in the Jewish Katamon quarter of west Jerusalem.

He said he was assaulted when young Jews realized he was an Arab.

Taa, a resident of Wadi Joz neighborhood in Arab-majority east Jerusalem, was hospitalized with a broken leg and bruising all over his body.

The incident comes after the recent beating of a 17-year-old Palestinian by a group of young Jews in the heart of Jerusalem, which shocked and raised tensions between Israelis and Palestinian leaders.

Nine Israelis, including eight minors, were recently charged with seriously injuring Jamal Julani, a Palestinian from east Jerusalem, on the night of August 16-17.

The nine, including a female minor, face trial for incitement to racism, incitement to violence and aggravated and racially motivated assault.

The attack on Julani, described as "lynching" by the media, shocked Israel's political establishment, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemning it as a combination of "racism and violence" which the Jewish state would not tolerate.